A Place in Clan McDuck
by Atarah Derekh
Summary: Scrooge promised Lena she'd have a place in his family. So he retreats to prepare a welcome speech for her. Mostly exposition.


**A Place in Clan McDuck**

**Disclaimer:** All characters within belong to Disney. Any exceptions will belong to Disney inevitably.

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What does a 151-year-old man say to his daughter to welcome her to the family?

Granted, Scrooge technically already had a daughter. Della and her twin brother had been orphaned at a young age, and Scrooge, in an attempt to make up for the terrible falling out he'd had with his little sister Hortense so long ago over his greed and ambition, had agreed to take them in. He'd even formally adopted them just as surely as Donald had later adopted his own sister's offspring. But Scrooge had never actually reproduced (at least as far as he knew; Goldie could certainly be keeping secrets of her own, though Scrooge made no secret of his own past with her). So the idea of telling someone—a teenage girl, no less—that he, at over a century old, was her father in every relevant sense of the term was completely foreign to him.

Besides, if she thought about it hard enough (and he knew she probably had), she'd realize that fact anyway.

Scrooge had tried hard not to think about those implications himself. He'd only learned recently how Lena had even come into existence when Webby accidentally revealed that she'd taken possession of Lena's journal after the Shadow War. Webby hadn't been difficult to convince to hand over the journal so Scrooge could make sense of the girl's rushed, babbled claims about Lena's origin. And what he'd read had shocked him.

Lena, Magica's shadow, but given corporeal form, as well as a name, personality and will of her own. She was her own person, produced from Magica. And that meant she wasn't Magica's niece, but her daughter.

What's more, Magica had guaranteed Lena's connection to the McDuck family by infusing some of Scrooge's will into the shadow girl. It wasn't hard; Scrooge's #1 dime was basically a token of his willpower, and Magica knew full well it held special power when combined with her magic. Basically, Lena wouldn't exist as an individual without Scrooge. That qualified her as his daughter as much as she was Magica's.

And naturally, Scrooge shuddered and wretched at the idea of having a child with Magica DeSpell. But he couldn't deny the truth.

He'd been content to try and ignore the issue, since Lena seemed to be gone, pulled back into whatever shadow realm she'd been drawn from. Until recently, when Webby used the magic of friendship (literally) to bring Lena back from the grave, as it were.

Much to Scrooge's shock when he arrived home afterward.

He couldn't say much to Lena at that point, so he'd retreated to his money bin, un-burying the chest filled with his favorite memories, and sitting down to think. He had a promise to keep. He'd told Lena she'd have a place in his family. He just couldn't have imagined on his own what that rightful place was.

Normally, Scrooge would get stuck on that lock of Goldie's hair that he kept tucked away in his memory chest, but this time, he focused on other memories. He flipped through the scrapbooks that his sister Matilda had made for him. He lingered on the last page of the last book, on an old photo showing a glowing Hortense next to her husband Quackmore and his mother Elvira (Scrooge had always liked Elvira; she was the only member of Quackmore's family he could actually stand). In front of them were two eggs, nestled in a buggy.

What had happened after that to put the ducklings that came from those eggs into Scrooge's custody was something he still blamed himself for. They hadn't known any different, and as far as they were concerned, Scrooge was their only family, and they were children of the 90s. They both learned at a relatively young age the truth of exactly when their eggs were laid and hatched, but had long since ceased to care. They bore their father's name, but were the heirs of Clan McDuck, should either of them want the title. Donald in particular, as he was the male heir. Recent events wouldn't change that.

But nonetheless, there was now another McDuck in the mix. Scrooge wondered if Magica's spell had somehow infused McDuck blood into Lena's corporeal form. At any rate, Lena was a McDuck, and claiming her as such wouldn't be difficult, legally speaking.

Scrooge allowed himself a chuckle as he thought of how Della would respond to the news. She'd always wanted a female cousin. She was fond enough of Gladstone, Gus, Fethry and Abner, and of course she loved her twin brother most of all, but she'd never really had a female relative she could bond with. This would finally be her chance.

Actually, she'd probably upstage Scrooge the moment he voiced the connection between himself and Lena.

As Scrooge tucked the scrapbooks back into the chest and carefully re-buried it, he finished piecing his speech together in his mind. He met Launchpad in the parking garage and made his way home, trying hard to tune out Launchpad's excited chatter about the Darkwing Duck fan film that Mrs. Beakley had apparently agreed to make with the pilot.

Darkwing Duck film...why did that sound familiar? Wasn't Darkwing the title of the big budget reboot Boorswan was working on? Scrooge pushed it out of his mind and focused on what he would say to Lena.

When he arrived back at McDuck Manor, he was greeted by two very nervous girls, flanked by three boys and a young hummingbird Scrooge hadn't recognized when he'd seen her earlier that day. In the background, Beakley and Della watched with uncertainty and confusion, respectively. They all looked as if they were waiting for the chieftain of Clan McDuck to pass judgment on the returned relation of the family's most hated and dangerous enemy.

Webby and Lena were holding hands. Scrooge couldn't tell if Webby had a death grip on Lena's hand or vice versa, but one or both of them were trembling with the effort, as if they were afraid that relaxing their grip even slightly would cause the other to somehow vaporize into the ether.

Scrooge gave Lena a gentle smile. The teen exhaled, and both girls relaxed their grip on each other's hand slightly.

"Lena..." Scrooge began, pausing to take a breath. "Do you remember the promise I made you?"

Lena nodded. "You said I'd have a place in your family."

Webby's face lit up. "Really?!" she squealed.

"Webbigail," Beakley admonished, calming Webby so Scrooge could continue.

"I did say that," Scrooge said. "On the condition that you help me save my family, of course. Which you did. But we both know that you've technically always had a place in this family. You've just never been allowed to take it before now."

Lena's expression became filled with hope.

Scrooge gave her a wide smile. "You've had the will of Clan McDuck infused into every fiber of your being, and you've shown that in every interaction with this family. You, Lena, are a McDuck, through and through. How would you like to make it official?"

Tears sprang to Lena's eyes. She dropped Webby's hand to throw her arms around Scrooge's neck. "Thank you!" she wept. Scrooge returned her embrace.

Behind them, Webby audibly sobbed. "Why is my heart always too full lately to hold anymore feels?!" she cried.

Lena laughed at Webby's outburst, pulling away from Scrooge to wipe her eyes. "Hope you don't mind if I don't call you 'dad' or anything. That would kind of be awkward. At least...right now."

Scrooge shrugged. "If you're comfortable calling me Uncle Scrooge like the rest of the kids do, I'll take it. It's up to you. You just take your time settling into your place in this family." He then glanced over at Della. "As for you, my dear, you'll have to get used to having a female cousin," he called.

"Yeeeeesssss!" Della shouted, pumping a fist in the air. She dashed over and nearly tackled Lena, sweeping her into a hug. "Welcome to the family, cuz!" she cried.

The two were promptly tackled in a group hug by the rest of the kids, save for Violet, who simply stood back, observing with a smile on her beak.

From somewhere on the bottom of the pile, Scrooge heard Lena grunt, "Okay, I get it, we love each other. Great. You can get off now."

The family relented, allowing a mildly disheveled Lena to sit up, a huge smile lighting up her face as she took in her family. She looked at Scrooge, who simply nodded at her, smiling proudly.

The rest of the night was spent in family bonding over Darkwing Duck (courtesy of Launchpad) and junk food as Webby, Lena and Violet regaled everyone with the tale of how they'd rescued Lena from the shadow realm. Scrooge remained largely silent through it all, wondering how his parents would react the next time he brought everyone to Dismal Downs. His family had sort of exploded in size over the past year, and he could not possibly be happier, luckier or wealthier.

The old adventurer tisked. Donald sure was missing out on some precious moments, being away on that relaxing cruise of his.


End file.
